The Charles Perkins Center building was designed by fjmt, a multi-document engineering company that is one of the foremost and most awarded architecture and urban development companies in the region. Fjmt is focused on high design standards, innovation and improved public space. Having started to use the advanced CAD and PDF technologies in its work in the 1990s, fjmt currently owns 97 ARCHICAD licenses.
In 2000, the company realized the need to organize the design and development of 3D-based documentation. After familiarizing themselves with the capabilities of the three leading applications, the management made their choice in favor of ARCHICAD, first of all, because of the best organization of team design in real time.
Initially, ARCHICAD was supposed to be used only for working architectural design and documentation, but over time, fjmt architects have significantly expanded the scope of the application.
As they studied the functions of coordinating 3D models and organizing work with related specialists and contractors, the company's specialists became experts in the field of information modeling of buildings.
In the 2010s, the most important projects were already being developed using the OPEN BIM approach, based on the exchange of information in an interdisciplinary IFC format.
Today, most of the company's projects are characterized by a high level of BIM-modeling in the ARCHICAD environment, supplemented by the dRufus application when working on very complex objects.
Since 2013, fjmt has started to provide a full package of BIM data management services both during the design process and during the construction phase. The process of operating objects can also be built on the basis of previously created information models of buildings, which are strictly ordered databases.
fjmt also makes extensive use of Rhino and Grasshopper applications using the recently created GRAPHISOFT extension, Grasshopper-ARCHICAD Live Connection, for direct communication.
This allows you to create almost any shape and volume, parameterized in accordance with certain algorithms, but at the same time are full-fledged elements of information models of buildings.
“We were able to redirect resources away from documentation creation to more detailed modeling. 3D design allows us to implement such architectural solutions that simply cannot be worked out otherwise. With the help of Teamwork in ARCHICAD, we can easily organize the joint work of a large number of specialists on large projects. And with the advent of the BIMcloud solution, we were able to connect employees from our remote offices to work on the same project. And finally, 3D project coordination is the only right approach if you need to bring together complex engineering networks, structural elements and architectural solutions, checking them for compliance with all codes and regulations.”- Jonathan Redman, director of fjmt …
Charles Perkins Center - project description and design solutions
The Charles Perkins Center (CPC), located on the west side of the University of Sydney's Camperdown campus, is a six-story building (plus three basement floors). The construction of this center was the first step in the creation of a territory dedicated to research in the field of biology. The project was designed in such a way as to organize comfortable learning and joint research activities of specialists from various disciplines, including biomedicine, bioinformatics, as well as computational and social sciences.
In a building with a total area of 50,000 m2 experimental medical and computer laboratories occupy 16,000 m22… The internal layout and layout of the spaces is optimized to the maximum, taking into account the multifunctionality of the complex. The open office space and the location of the main laboratory block are conducive to informal communication between employees, designed to re-approach the learning process and conduct research.
The volume and facades of the building are tied to the axial location of campus buildings, including Wilkinson Axis. The vertical proportions of the sandstone clad northwest façade enhance the building's harmonious blend with the adjacent cultural heritage site of St. John's College. This façade is characterized by vertical windows with deep quarters, which accentuate its rhythm and provide additional protection from the sun.
The southeast façade, facing a triangular open space, has large glazing areas separated by multiple neutral brushed anodized aluminum horizontal slats. The rest of the facades are finished with horizontal rows of sandstone, which alternate with glazing and aluminum elements in accordance with the function of the interior and the overall proportions of the cladding.
A free-standing pavilion with a sweeping roof line, located next to the main entrance, houses a cafe and an entrance to a 360-seat auditorium.
Spatial layout of the interior
The nature of the human body, DNA sequencing and blood circulation were the sources that inspired architects to take a new approach to the overall architectural solutions and interior design of the building. The large central atrium is the heart of social life and a place where people gather, exchange information and news, share problems and simply communicate. The atrium has a sculptural form with horizontal continuous "ribbons" that windingly diverge from floor to floor and connect galleries, atrium stairs and an openwork decorative wall.
The organization of the space surrounding the atrium increases the feeling of openness and encourages people to communicate in a way that does not disrupt laboratory work.
Typical floors have a simple layout, which facilitates the orientation of permanent employees and visitors in the building, where a laboratory area, a meeting and negotiation area, and a work area are located on three functional levels. Warm, rich colors and layered environmental graphics contrast with the white galleries and contribute to the visual zoning of the entire building.
Versatility, a combination of materials and a high degree of detail, together with a series of complete solutions such as high-tech glazing, smart sun protection, the use of photocells and the correct use of daylight in the atrium - all this gives the building a modern look that meets not only the requirements of today but also meets the advanced trends in the development of architecture.
Problems related to design and documentation
When working on large projects, there are always both difficulties and potential opportunities. The Charles Perkins Center is no exception.
One of the features was the joint work of two architectural companies (fjmt and Building Studio partner architects) in the development of the project and preparation of documentation at the same stage of the project. Given that the building is characterized by a large number of details and areas of interaction, one of the most difficult tasks was the synchronization of the work of the two teams.
The interaction was based on the exchange of IFC models and orthographic projections in DWG format, including floor plans, sections and elevations.
A lot of difficulties arose in the process of analyzing the building, which combines many zones with different functions, including workplaces, training and clinical rooms, high-performance laboratories. All of this required close attention and precise coordination in the face of time and cost constraints.
Increasing the speed of design and construction is a distinctive feature of the use of CAD, but in this case, the problem was that the stages of design, preparation of documentation and construction were superimposed on one another. For example, the preparation of the documentation began even before the approval of the working project and before the beginning of the preliminary design of the interiors. At the same time, the design assignment included the release of all sections of the documentation.
This project was one of the first buildings designed by fjmt in ARCHICAD 13 and the new version of Teamwork 2.0 has significantly increased the speed of the team. The functions of quick reservation and editing of individual components of the project provided a flexible approach and made it possible to organize the workspace of architects by layers, by floors, or simply based on specified criteria for selecting elements.
“The Teamwork feature was an important addition that allowed our employees to work flexibly and productively. Team members could back up and edit model elements both from the office and remotely. This technology has significantly improved ARCHICAD's efficiency, especially in the face of tight design and construction schedules.”- Johnathan Redman, director of fjmt.
The versatility of ARCHICAD made it possible to work in parallel on draft and detailed designs, as well as to work out the documentation, even with a partial coincidence of the design and construction periods. Information models were used to demonstrate various project options to the customer, approve design solutions with related specialists and conduct workshops with contractors.
Due to the accelerated design and the need for a complete set of documentation, the contractor (Brookfield Multiplex Constructions) got into the work at an early stage. With the help of IFC-models, all coordination and detection of collisions arising between structures and elements of engineering networks was carried out.
“ARCHICAD is great for managing a lot of exported and imported data. We used a centralized model to bring together all the necessary information that was associated with individual project files and sets of drawings.”- Jonathan Redman, director of fjmt.
Complexity of modeling
The fjmt company began work on this project in ARCHICAD 13 and finished it in ARCHICAD 15. The project was created with the participation of 20 architects and designers. The most difficult thing was to build a model of the entire atrium, containing curved profiles and double-curved stairs.
The architects managed to bring the design concept to life using various tools and special techniques. However, time does not stand still, and during this time the GRAPHISOFT company has created new tools that allow you to perform these difficult tasks much faster and easier. For example, the Rhino-Grasshopper-ARCHICAD Live Connection extension allows bidirectional data exchange between ARCHICAD and Rhino / Grasshopper. Thus, some elements of the ARCHICAD BIM model can be created based on certain transformation algorithms for almost any geometry.
In addition, ARCHICAD 21 introduces completely new Ladder and Railing tools, powered by the patented Predictive Design ™ technology, making it easy to model and create documentation of even very complex elements.
Conclusion
By creatively using innovative design tools combined with cutting-edge software, fjmt has created the Charles Perkins Center, which fully meets the highest global standards and will serve researchers and educators for generations to come.
About fjmt
Fjmt is a multi-award winning Australian architecture firm committed to delivering high performance projects and enhancing public spaces.
Place and community of people are inseparable. Each of our projects, designed with these concepts in mind, represents a transformation and interpretation of the site that allows the client and the entire community for whom we are building to see the real embodiment of their desires. We try to create an architectural form and an open space where the image of a person, values and ideas are located and reflected, and which, importantly, extends into the public area.
Fjmt has received numerous awards in architecture and design, including the World Architecture Festival's Best Building of the Year in the World, the AIA (American Institute of Architects) Sir Zelman Cowan Award for Public Buildings and the Lloyd Rees Urban Design Award, the NZIA (New Zealand Institute of Architects) Medal for Architecture; and the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) International Award.
From its studios in Sydney, Melbourne, Australia and Oxford, UK, fjmt handles commissions from government agencies, businesses and residents across Australia and more recently Europe. These orders from the company are often the result of successful participation in international architectural competitions.
